


Good-Bye

by IneffableSerpnt



Category: Doctor Who (2005), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Daleks - Freeform, Emotional Hurt, Flashbacks, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Episode: The Impossible Astronaut, Some depictions of violence, Time War (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 12:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21299141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IneffableSerpnt/pseuds/IneffableSerpnt
Summary: The Doctor goes on his good-bye tour and ends up getting into a situation with the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe he should have tried to stay out of New York more, but something big is lurking in the shadows waiting for the Doctor. Will he make it out of this encounter intact? Cross-Posted on Fanfiction.net under TheOncomingStorm11. May add more tags as needed.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 34





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: May contain some language and other things not suitable for people 13 or younger.

I had left my brilliant Ponds. I had said good-bye to Craig, but more importantly, I had left my Ponds. Sighing, I stroked the console, hearing a hum of comfort.

“Thank you Sexy,” I said, smiling sadly.

She hummed again and flashed the lights softly. I sigh again and lean against the console. Thinking back to all of the adventures I had with my Ponds and all of my other companions, I smile sadly, thinking about all of my failed attempts to protect them. I felt something drip on my hand and looked down, to my surprise, I was crying. Laughing bitterly and wiping the tears away, my thoughts then drifted to my last face and the events leading to my regeneration into this one.

Without warning, the alarms blared, and I was forcefully thrown from my dark thoughts as the console room suddenly violently tilted sideways. I was thrown around the room like a rag doll and slammed hard into the railing, the air leaving my body in a giant whoosh. Gasping for breath and trying to gain my bearings, I was then thrown again, this time hitting my head on the edge of the console knocking me unconscious.

*TIME SKIP*

I woke up approximately three hours, forty-three minutes and twelve seconds later and found the TARDIS silent and dark, with only the backup generators running. Trying to sit up, I fell back down with a sharp cry of pain as my ribs and head immediately protested my movement. I lay still taking stock of my injuries, which included three broken ribs, a concussion, and a stress fracture in my left ankle. I sat up sluggishly, breathing shallowly, and winced in pain.

Swaying dangerously, I tilted to the side and my hand shot out for balance. I winced, my head throbbing along with my heartbeats and the pounding on the door. I pulled myself up from my slouched position, fixed my bow tie and plastered the fakest smile on my face and pulled open the door. 

Slowly, I became aware of people shouting something through the TARDIS door. Crawling toward the door, my vision tilted, making me nauseous. I made it to the door and pulled myself into a standing position, making sure that I didn’t put too much pressure on my fractured ankle. Swaying dangerously, I tilted to the side, and my hand shot out for balance. I winced, my head throbbing along with my heartbeats and the pounding on the door. I pulled myself up from my slouched position, fixed my bow tie, and plastered the fakest smile on my face and pulled open the door. 

When you hear an ominous clicking noise, it’s safe to say that you are in a lot of trouble. Especially when that clicking noise is of the safety’s being turned off on guns. I slowly raised my hands in the universal sign for surrender and stepped the rest of the way out of the TARDIS, closing the door swiftly behind me. The first thing I noticed were four guns pointed in my direction. The second thing I notice is that I seemed to have landed on a ship of some sort. 

“Who are you?” a gruff voice demanded.

I slowly turned to look at who spoke and saw a dark-skinned man who looked like a pirate. I smiled and said, “Just someone traveling through. I mean no harm, so if I’ll be on my way-“, I tried to move back into my ship slowly, but the guns clicked again, signaling that they were not going to let me go so quickly. 

“I’ll only ask this once more,” the pirate threatened, “Who are you?”

I sighed heavily, but then winced slightly when a sharp pain shoots through my ribs. 

“I’m the Doctor,” I confessed.

“Doctor who?” another man asked inquiringly. He was standing slightly behind the pirate and wearing a suit that reminded me of one of the guys in the movie Men In Black.

I grimaced at that, remembering everyone who had ever said that to me. 

The pirate looked at MIB guy and nodded. That must have been a signal because he and two others stepped forward cautiously, guns still pointing at me. When they came within reaching distance, the two others put their weapons in their holsters and reached forward and grabbed my arms, putting them into some handcuffs behind my back. 

The jerking motion of my arms being forced behind my back caused my ribs to protest loudly. I hissed loudly in pain. Dark spots filled my eyes as I blinked rapidly, trying to push the spots away.

The guards hesitated for a brief moment, but they then just continued on like nothing had happened. They practically dragged me to a room that had some sort of glass cage in the middle of it. I stumbled along with them and was roughly pushed inside after they took the cuffs back off, and I instantly fell to the floor from the momentum. Cursing loudly in Gallifreyan as my ribs met the metal floor, I curled in on myself as tightly as possible to see the pain.

Pirate man looked at me stoically with his hands clenched behind his back while MIB guy looked at me with hidden sympathy. I didn’t care. I was too busy trying not to let the pain drag me under. My breathing was very heavy, and I could barely breathe, the darkness in my vision threatened to pull me under, but I fought it back. For now, at least.

I stood up slowly, gritting my teeth, with my hand wrapped around my ribs and my eyes squeezed shut tightly in pain. The pirate who was now the only one left out of the three, watched me as I stood, his one eye not leaving me. He just stood there with his arms crossed. Standing up straight, I kept my weight off of my ankle and stood there, hunched over slightly. 

“Sooo…. Is this going to be an interrogation?” I asked with as much bravado as I could muster. Which at this point was not a lot. “Because if so, this is the worst one I have experienced in a very long time, and I’ve been in a lot of interrogations.”

“This is not an interrogation. Well, at least it won’t be if you answer my questions,” the pirate stated.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know who you are or where I am,” I said as politely as I could while still trying to not pass out.

“I am Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You are on our Helicarrier, and since I’m assuming you’re some kind of alien life form, seeing as you arrived in some kind of ship, you are on planet Earth,” he said like he had this type of conversation all the time. 

“I always have to end up on Earth, don’t I,” I muttered quietly to myself.

“What are you, and where do you come from?” Fury snapped impatiently.

I laughed bitterly and said, “I am a Time Lord from the planet, Gallifrey.”

“Are there any more of you out there that I should be concerned about?” he demanded.

As soon as he asked that question, my mind flashed back to the days of the Time War and how everyone had died. How there was no other choice but to destroy my home planet and the Daleks along with it.

“No. There is no one else out there. I am the last of my kind,” I said, pain coating my voice.

Before Fury could ask any more questions, MIB guy came back into the room and whispered something in his ear. Fury nodded and said, “Bring them up and call Thor while you’re at it.”

MIB guy nodded and left. My blood ran cold, and my heart skipped a beat as I realized what Fury had said and instantly, I started panicking. The last time I saw Thor had been right after I ended the Time War, and he had been so furious at me, that he had tried to kill me. 

“I’m sorry, did you just say Thor?” I asked shakily. My vision was starting to turn dark.

Fury just looked at me confused, and he didn’t answer. My breathing picked up, and the pain became too much for me to handle. I then fell to the floor, and distantly, I heard someone shouting something. 

My last conscious thought was that I was going to die, and Thor was going to be the one to finally end it, not River. The darkness then swallowed me whole, and I drifted away.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Maybe a bit OOC for some characters, maybe all. I don’t know yet.

I awoke to the sound of a familiar beeping noise. The sound of the beeping seemed to be getting louder, and it started to take shape into one sound that I never wanted to hear again.

Beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep.

My eyes snapped open, and I struggled to get up but found that I couldn’t. I looked around wildly and then noticed that I was lying on a hospital bed; without my shirt, bowtie, or tweed jacket. Trying to sit up, I saw that my ribs were wrapped, and my ankle was elevated, but the four-beat beeping caught my attention again, and my breathing picked up its pace, and thoughts started racing around my head.

‘He can’t be here, he’s dead! How is he doing this?!’

I was so caught up in my thoughts, that I missed the door opening and someone entering the room.

Suddenly, I heard someone talking to me, and I strained to listen to what they were saying. I focused harder and realized that whoever was with me was trying to calm me down.

Finally, I managed to calm down enough that I could hear again. My eyes opened, and I looked around the room. I notice that there is a heart monitor machine next to the bed that I was lying on, and my face colored in embarrassment.

‘I can’t believe I panicked over, hearing my hearts beat.’

Hanging my head, I hid my face in my hands, embarrassed but relieved at the same time. Relieved because that meant that he wasn’t here.

Someone cleared their throat, and I uncovered my face and looked up. The culprit was Fury, he was glaring at me, and he looked pissed. I just stared calmly back at him, not even close to being intimidated. I’ve faced down foes who were more intimidating than him pretty much every day of my lives. We stared at each other for a minute, trying to make the other look away first. I ended up looking away first after I shifted, wincing slightly as fresh waves of pain rolled through my body.

Coughing awkwardly, I turned back to Fury and asked, “Where am I?”

“You are in our infirmary. Figured it would be easier to take you here instead of trying to treat you in your cell,” he deadpanned.

Before I could say anything more, the door to the infirmary swished open, and five people stepped into the room.

“- I think this would be an excellent opportunity to-,” the one with the weird beard thing was cut off abruptly by the man with glasses elbowing his side.

The bearded guy looked indignant and opened his mouth, but the big blonde guy gave him a look, and he quickly shut his mouth and crossed his arms, pouting slightly.

The other two people were standing slightly behind Fury, and they were odd, but not as strange as the three men. The woman was dangerous looking, and I made a mental note not to get on her bad side, ever. The man was kind of strange; he was carrying a bow and had a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back. Both of them gave off the vibes of ‘Don’t fuck with me.’

My observations were interrupted when the man with glasses came over and asked, concerned, “What happened to you to get these types of injuries?”

I looked at him for a second, surprised that he would even care, so I just shrugged and cheerfully said, "I was just coming back from this lovely planet, and my ship went haywire, then I landed here, and then pirate over here put me in a glass cell, and now I'm here."

He watched me for a minute and looked as if he couldn't decide if I was lying or not. I smiled, amused at his reaction, not like I don't get that kind of response enough. I am someone who people can't take seriously, not that I blame them. This regeneration is a bit on the childish end.

"Well, now that we have that all settled, can we get back to the task at hand?" Fury asked everyone sarcastically.

Everyone looked at the ground awkwardly, feeling like a child who had just been scolded after doing something terrible.

Fury looked at me, crossed his arms over his chest, and said, "So, you mind telling me what you are doing here?"

I looked at him for a minute and thought the question over. I, of course, had no idea why I was here or why the TARDIS decided to send me here, rather violently, might I add.

I plastered a smile on my face and chirped, "Nope. Not a clue. Although if I knew how to get out of here, I would, but at the moment my ship is a bit on the damaged side, so that isn't going to be possible."

He glared at me suspiciously, I just smiled my fakest smile and started fiddling with my hands, like I usually did when I get nervous, or I guess, in general.

Before Fury could say anything more, the room darkened, and there were blasts of thunder and lightning. I cringed, immediately knowing that this was not going to end well. The storm continued for a second, and then I could hear a loud pounding of someone's boots on the floor heading towards the infirmary. I sighed and felt resigned to the fate that was about to befall me.

There was a fist pounding on the infirmary door, and I heard the one person that I had hoped to never hear from again, murderously yelling, "DOCTOR!"


	3. Chapter 2

I shrunk down as much as I could on the infirmary’s bed, but I knew that it would be useless. Thor would get in here one way or another. I looked around for any possible exits, but of course, the only exit was the door that Thor was currently at.

“YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER, DOCTOR!!! COME OUT, YOU COWARD!!!!” Thor shouted through the door.

I shivered and looked at Fury, “You might as well let him in before you have a broken door.”

He nodded at the guards by the door, and they opened the door.

What happened next was so fast that my head spun. The door had opened, and a red and silver streak had practically flown across the room towards me. I felt myself being lifted and roughly slammed into the wall next to the bed. Coughing violently, I felt something trickle down my chin, but I was too busy concentrating on the enraged being that was in front of me with his big hand wrapped around my neck.

Thor’s eyes were filled with rage, and he looked as if he would kill me at any time. My hands instinctively came up and tried to take the pressure off of my neck, but his grip was too tight. 

I coughed again and more liquid- which I now realize was blood- was trickling down my chin at an alarming rate.

Looking up at Thor, I smiled sadly and barely managed to choke out, “Hello Thor, long time no see. You’ve grown.”

Of course, that just pissed him off even more, and he roughly slammed me against the wall. This time, the back of my head slammed into it, and my vision swam dangerously. I closed my eyes and tried to keep my breathing under control.

Next thing I know, I’m on the floor and greedily taking in the air. I coughed and wiped my mouth and looked down at my hand. Blood.

‘That’s not good,’ I thought to myself dazedly.

I looked around and saw that a gold and red suit and the two blonde men were now holding Thor back and yelling at him to calm down. Thinking about what to do next, I reached up and grabbed the edge of the bed and tried to stand, tried being the keyword. I managed to get halfway up before the world suddenly tilted sideways and I fell back down with a thud.

That, of course, drew the attention of everyone in the room. I looked at them sheepishly and waved my hand at them.

“Sorry ‘bout that, just fell,” I said nervously.

Thor ripped his arms away from the three men and looked at me with cold blue eyes. He then turned to Fury and said, “You should not have him anywhere where he can use something to escape. I would put him in that glass cage you have.”

Shockingly enough, I wasn’t surprised that he would say that, but of course, I had to open my big fat mouth.

“Is that any way to treat your uncle, Thor?” I asked in a light tone.

Thor snarled and made to move towards me, but thankfully he was blocked from doing so.

“You stopped being my uncle when you left and killed all of your people!” He said, his voice filled with ice and fury.

I flinched, and tears sprang to my eyes. The War. That was all I could think about. The sky burning, people screaming in agony and suffering. People fighting until they were the last one standing, and then they would eventually be cut down. People who tried to save their families, only to watch them die right in front of them with one word that everyone fears.

“Thor do not presume to know what happened in the war when you were not there to witness the atrocities that happened,” I said in a low voice that was filled with emotion.

He sneered at me and crossed his arms, his stance screaming, ‘why should I even believe you?’

During our discussion, well more like fight, everyone in the room had been watching us. Their heads moving between the two of us, like they were watching a tennis match. When Thor had said that I killed my people, their faces tightened in hidden fury and hatred.

“I’m sorry, did Point Break just say that you killed your people? How could you do that?” The red and gold suit said, anger dripping in his words.

I looked at him and said coldly, “I think that is none of your business.”

“Well, I think we have a long discussion ahead of us, but first we need to get you back to your cell,” Fury interrupted, his face closed off.

I turned to face him, “Well, in order to get this show on the road, I need a bit of help getting off of the floor. Oh, and also my shirt, bowtie and jacket.”

Thor immediately turned to Fury and informed him that the pockets of my coat were bigger on the inside and could hide weapons and other things in there. 

I scoffed at the thought. As if I would ever carry a gun, anymore at least. 

Fury nodded and looked at the two guards and gestured to me. They grabbed what I asked for, except for my jacket, of course, and came over and roughly pulled me up from the floor. I bit my lower lip hard so as not to cry out in pain. Fresh blood ran down my chin from the force.

They forcefully dragged me out of the room and down the corridor. We were walking for what seemed like forever before we finally got back to the glass cage room. This time I took more time to observe where I was going to stay for a while. The room was huge, it had a glass cage in the middle of the room, and it was big enough to fit at least fifteen people comfortably.

“Is this going to be my new room?” I asked sarcastically.

The only response I got was the guards pushing me into the cage. I fell roughly on my knees, jarring my broken ribs and starting a new round of coughing and blood.

I crawled to one side of the cage and sat leaning against the glass, looking out at the people around the cage.

“So… what now?” I asked nervously. 

“Now, you give us answers. Thor here says you’re dangerous,” Fury states, “I just want to know what you are doing here and why he thinks that you are dangerous.”

Thor looked at him and spat, “His people were in a war with a formidable race, and they were winning, he then blows up the entire planet in revenge for the war ever happening in the first place.”

I scoffed loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Do you honestly believe that Thor? After everything that I have done for you, you believe some lie over the truth that I gave you all those years ago?” I groaned, disappointed that he wouldn’t believe me after everything.

“Yes, I do believe that. I also believe that you are a cold-hearted murderer who doesn’t care for others,” Thor spat.

I looked down sadly at my lap and tried to keep the tears at bay, “If that is what you believe-“

“That is what I believe,” he said with conviction.

“Then you are a fool. A fool who believes everything he is told and does not listen to others who are telling the truth,” I said softly, still not looking up.

“I AM NOT A FOOL! I KNOW THE TRUTH!” He roared.

I looked up at him softly, “Do you really, though?”

My hearts were twisting painfully in my chest. I could hear them and the barrier in my mind cracking and creaking under the memories of the Last Great Time War. Looking Thor in the eyes, I softly asked, “You weren’t even there, so how would you know what happened?”

“I know enough,” he said gruffly.

Closing my eyes, I blocked everything out, and I was done talking to everyone right now. I let myself fall into unconsciousness and hoping that when I awoke, I would be mostly healed.

If only I knew.


	4. Chapter 3

I awoke to the sound of someone shuffling around outside my glass cell. Opening my eyes, I saw Thor with his hammer in his hand and a scowl on his face. Shifting slightly so as not to draw his attention, I gasped loudly in surprise and grasped my ribs in agony. I was shocked, my injuries should have healed by now, especially after having slept for a while.

After the pain subsides a bit, I looked up and noticed that Thor wasn’t alone anymore. There were seven other people who I had seen before, standing with him; Fury, the one with the armored metal suit, MIB man, the redheaded deadly looking woman, the man dressed as an American flag, the man with a beautiful compound bow, and the man with glasses who looked nervous. They all looked at me with varying expressions or no expression with some.

“Do you need anything?” I gasped out sarcastically, my breathing still labored.

Thor took a step forward and glared at me, “You are a threat to everyone on this planet, so the man of Fury has agreed to keep you locked up in this cell until I have decided what to do with you,” he said sharply.

I stared sadly at him, “Oh Thor, what happened to that happy little boy who held no anger?” I asked quietly.

Snarling loudly, Thor stomped up to the cell and stood in front of it. “You have no right to ask that since you killed my friend when you destroyed Gallifrey!” He thundered.

I froze in shock. His friend, oh, Rassilon! It had been so long since I had seen Thor last that I forgot I had brought someone with me every time I had visited Asgard. How could I forget that?! The blood drained from my face as I continued to remember what had happened to them. Of course, not how Thor thinks. They actually died much later, a lot later, long after the Time War ended.

Lost in my thoughts of a time long past where there was no hope, I didn’t notice that the eight individuals standing before me who had varying expressions of curiosity on their faces, except of course for Thor. He was glaring at me with such hatred on his face, that my hearts clenched in pain at the knowledge of having lost him.

Changing the subject quickly, I stared at Thor, swallowing nervously I asked the one question that had been on my mind since I first saw Thor in the infirmary.

“Where’s Loki?”

Thor stiffened, and his face darkened considerably. Absently, I noticed that the others behind him had also stiffened.

Completely uncomfortable now, I shifted a little and then realized that that was not a good idea right now because pain swept through me, and I let out a soft hiss of pain, hoping that they didn’t hear me. Unfortunately for me, everyone heard.

Instead of answering my earlier question, Thor frowned at me, concern flashing over his features for a second before it settled into a mask of indifference.

“You should be healed by now,” Thor states emotionlessly.

“I noticed,” I said bitterly. “I seem not to be able to heal as I should, and I have no idea why.”

Thor’s face remained impassive throughout my explanation, but the people behind him just looked confused.

Sighing slightly, I took pity on them and started to explain why this was bad to them, “My people had a faster healing ability than humans, we also have a neat trick to cheat death with. It’s called regeneration; we can change everything about ourselves, starting with our cells. When our cells start to die, most of us decide to keep living, and then the process starts. Golden light explodes from our bodies, and we then change. Hair, gender, body type, voice, height, everything.”

“Most of you? What do you mean by that?” the man with the gold and red suit asked.

I looked down sadly, not liking where this was going. “It’s exactly as I said, some of us didn’t want to continue anymore, so they died. Not that I can blame them.”

“What do you mean?” Thor questioned.

“The Time War!” I shouted back at him, finally fed up with the questions. “In the Time War, many fought in the beginning, we were proud to be fighting, and we learned to love it.” I was panting now, anger and sadness coursing through me. “But later, most of us wanted out, and the only way of doing that was by jumping in front of our enemy and hoping that they would shoot us instead of capturing us. The rest were consumed with the war. There was so much blood on our hands, and we loved it, craved it, and it drove us mad.”

“Which were you?” Fury asked, arms crossed, but his body was tense as if ready for an attack.

I could feel my hearts sink in my chest, this was definitely not something I wanted to talk about, so I did what I always do in these situations. I changed the subject.

“I had a friend once, Thor knows him. He and I went to the Academy together, and we were very close,” I said softly. “Something happened to him when we were eight years old, and it changed him. After that, he became obsessed with becoming better, more powerful. I tried to stop him, but he would laugh at me and say, ‘Come now, Doctor, you think that you of all people can stop me?’ He was right, of course, I couldn’t stop him, and people were hurt because of me.” Sighing sadly, I forced myself to continue. “Later on, in our lives, he would have bouts of sanity, and we would travel together until he became mad and power-hungry again. I took him to all the places we had wanted to go to as children. Including Asgard,” I said, looking directly at Thor.

Thor’s impassive face had melted into a look of nostalgia as my story came to an end. Suddenly, the nostalgia changed into burning rage.

“You cannot and will not change my mind about your imprisonment! I refuse to accept your lies, trickster!” Thor roared, slamming a fist against the glass, causing it to crack.

I looked at the glass uneasily, hoping beyond hope that the glass wouldn’t shatter.

“They are not lies, Thor. Why can’t you see that everything I’ve ever told you was true?” I asked softly, looking at him.

Before Thor could answer my question, a loud noise comes over all of the speakers in the room.

Tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap

My face automatically paled, my body started to shake, and my breathing picked up. Eyes darting around the room, I found that Fury was shouting into his earpiece, and the others were starting to get into defensive positions.

“What did you do?!” Thor shouted at me over the loud tapping noise.

Trying and failing to speak, I just looked at him with fear in my eyes and hearts.

“He can’t be here, he can’t be here, he can’t. I watched him die,” I heard myself whisper desperately, black spots littering my vision once more.

Closing my eyes, I started trying to slow my breathing down. After a while, I felt confident that I wouldn’t pass out again. I jumped a little, and my eyes snapped open when Thor started yelling again.

“Who? Who is doing this?!” Thor shouted angrily.

The tapping suddenly cut off, and I knew that he indeed was back. I could feel it in my bones.

“The Master,” I managed to say shakily, still frozen in place, terrified of what was to come.


	5. Chapter 4

Thor froze, many emotions flickering across his face. Surprise, confusion, melancholy, anger, and then a burning rage that I had only ever seen on **_his_** face.

“Lies! He is dead! You killed him yourself!” Thor roared.

I stared at him in disbelief, unable to understand why he thought that I had killed him when it was he who had almost killed me hundreds of times.

“Is that what they told you? I can’t believe that you would believe them over me, your own Uncle. I don’t think you understand what actually happened, Thor. I am very disappointed with you right now.” By the end of my speech, I had deflated and felt an overwhelming bitterness towards Thor and the Gallifrey High Command. Who had always twisted everything that was said about me and what I do.

“You are not my Uncle as you are not related to me,” Thor spat venomously.

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. All of the air whooshed out of my lungs as I remembered all that I had lost. Embarrassingly, my eyes started to water as I gazed sadly at Thor.

“Never in all of my years of living have I heard something so ridiculous,” I said sadly, “Family doesn’t ever end with blood Thor. I hope you will always remember that.”

Thor scoffed, turned toward the door, and stormed out of the room. Everyone else just stood there silently. Unsure as to what they should do now.

“Well, this is awkward,” the man in the red and gold metal suit drawled out.

Flagman just looked disapprovingly at the metal man, like he was hoping that showing his disapproval would make the other man sorry for his outburst.

_‘Yeah, right, as if.’_

Ignoring the metal man’s outburst, Fury looked at the others and then swept out of the room with a dramatic flutter of his trench coat. Seconds later, everyone still left outside of my cell looked at each other, a silent conversation happening between them. If I weren’t locked in a glass cell, I would be very amused, but sadly that wasn’t the case.

Suddenly, an annoyed huff escaped the man dressed as the American flag. The other four people looked at him sheepishly and then practically raced out of the room. Except, of course, for the redhead. She walked out slowly, with all the dignity and grace of a cat being told off for trying to eat the pet mouse.

Alone with the flagman, I suddenly got nervous. And when I get nervous, I do what I do best. Talk.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. I don’t want to keep calling you ‘the man dressed as the American flag’ in my head,” I rambled slightly.

The man looked a little amused and then said, “I guess I can tell you my name. I’m Steve Rogers.”

“Hello, Steve Rogers! I’m the Doctor! Well. I guess you already knew that,” I said, highly embarrassed by the end of it.

Steve looked semi, amused, but then his expression went serious.

“How could you kill your own people?” Steve questioned with a look of disgust and sadness on his face.

Once again, the air whooshed out of my lungs. Deciding that the floor is going to become uncomfortable for this topic, I slowly stood up, wincing the whole way, and walked to the little bench. I sat on it slowly and leaned back against the glass to keep the pressure off my injuries.

Looking at Steve again, I quickly analyzed the situation. If he was asking me these kinds of questions, it meant someone was listening in or watching what was going on. Probably both in this case.

Taking a breath, I started to talk. “I did what I had to do in order to protect everyone in the universe.”

“What do you mean by that?” He asked.

“Exactly what I said. The Daleks had already destroyed most of Gallifrey and taken the Citadel within the first fifty years of the war. I had led the Fifth Time Lord Battle Fleet against the Daleks in the Tantalus Eye for almost a hundred years, and we lost. Every single Time Lord that had been in the fleet either died from the Daleks or their own hands by the end of the battle. Except me.” Pausing here, I tried to keep the memories of those hundred years at bay, but it was a losing battle. If I wasn't careful, I would slip into my memories and possibly never resurface.

“After those hundred years of fighting, I finally woke up and looked around like it was the first time I had seen the war. I told myself ‘No More’, and I fought back against the few Time Lords and Daleks alike that were still around after four hundred years. I took ‘The Moment’, which is essentially a planet eater, and ran. I set it up in a barn on Gallifrey, and I activated it. I had planned on still being on the planet when ‘The Moment’ went off, but something told me I was still needed. So, I got in my TARDIS, the blue police box, and ran away. I’ve been running ever since.”

I stopped myself there because I didn’t want to tell them any more about what had happened during those four hundred years of blood and carnage, and because I was hoping he would skim over that I didn’t tell him everything.

Of course, my luck is just terrible these days.

Steve looked at me pensively for a second and then asked the one question that pushed me over the edge and with it the last of my remaining barriers of the Time War.

“What happened during those years that you fought in the Time War?”

With those words being spoken, the memories hit me like a tidal wave, and I was pushed under the depths into the black unknown.


	6. Chapter 5

Bridge Surveillance Table POV

After Thor and Fury stormed out of the glass cell room, it was decided between the rest of the Avengers who would stay and talk to the alien. The fast-paced “conversation” (aka, body language and dirty looks) took about thirty seconds to decide. Steve huffed out a half-amused half annoyed huff, and the rest of the members looked sheepishly at their fearless leader.

The rest of the team took off quickly to the bridge to watch the show. While some were full out sprinting (Tony and Clint), others were restraining the urge to run like the others (Natasha and Bruce). Getting to the bridge in record time, the team practically raced to the surveillance table where Fury, Coulson, and Thor were already there waiting for them.

“Did we miss anything?” Tony asked panting.

“No. Now shut up and sit down, Steve is about to start questioning him,” Fury growled, folding his arms over his chest.

The team and Thor all sat down around the table and settled in to hear what was happening.

_‘-_ _I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. I don’t want to keep calling you ‘the man dressed as the American flag’ in my head.’_

Tony snickered loudly at that, having been trying to come up with some better names for the Captain. 

_ ‘I guess I can tell you my name. I’m Steve Rogers.’ _

_ ‘Hello, Steve Rogers! I’m the Doctor! Well. I guess you already knew that.’ _

Several chuckles rang out around the table at that. Thor, on the other hand, scowled angrily, as if remembering times past.

“Get to questioning him, Captain,” came Fury’s cold voice from across the table.

Around the table, some looked confused for a second before understanding hit them. Steve had a com on him. 

_ ‘How could you kill your own people?’ _ Steve finally asked.

Silence fell on the bridge as many of the people stopped what they were doing and listened to what was happening.

At the table, the Avengers and Fury (even though you couldn’t tell) leaned forward to hear what the reply was. There was complete silence as they watched the alien slowly and painfully get up off the floor and make his way to the bench, where he sat down and leaned against the glass wall. The alien was silent for another minute or so before he took a deep breath.

_ ‘I did what I had to do in order to protect everyone in the universe.’ _

That reply was something that threw everyone off. They were not expecting an answer like this.

Suddenly, the sound of something cracking came from Thor’s direction, and everyone turned to find him looking at the screen murderously and the arm of the chair he was sitting in cracked. Everyone wisely said nothing about it in order not to draw attention to themselves. They did not want an angry god coming after them.

_ ‘What do you mean by that?’ _Came Steve’s voice, grabbing everyone’s attention once more.

_ ‘Exactly what I said. The Daleks had already destroyed most of Gallifrey and taken the Citadel within the first fifty years of the war. I had led the Fifth Time Lord Battle Fleet against the Daleks in the Tantalus Eye for almost a hundred years, and we lost. Every single Time Lord that had been in that fleet either died from the Daleks or by their own hands by the end of the battle. Except me.’ _

There was a pause here, like he was trying not to remember something. The team leaned forward more to see the emotions that were running rampant on the alien's unguarded face.

_ ‘After those hundred years of fighting, I finally woke up and looked around like it was the first time I had seen the war. I told myself ‘No More’ and I fought back against the few Time Lords and Daleks alike that were still around after four hundred years. I took ‘The Moment’, which is essentially a planet eater, and ran. I set it up in a barn on Gallifrey, and I activated it. I had planned on still being on the planet when ‘The Moment’ went off, but something told me I was still needed. So, I got on my TARDIS, the blue police box, and ran away.’ _

There was another pause here, but this time it was longer. Long enough for Thor to slam his fist onto the table and the rest of the team to contemplate what was said.

“That coward! He should have stayed there! His people needed him and he just-“ here, Thor’s voice trailed off as if his mind was waging war with itself.

Bruce, who had been watching what was going on, said, “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?” said Natasha, silently agreeing in her head that something big was going to happen.

“I mean that this Doctor keeps cutting himself off when he gets to a certain part of his story like there’s something more to it than he’s saying,” Bruce replied, putting his glasses on and leaning in to get a better look at the Doctor’s face.

Silence fell over the table as the team contemplated this ominous statement.

When Steve opened his mouth to ask his next question, Bruce suddenly found something of value and with a terrified expression on his face, yelled, “No, no! Steve, stop!”

But it was too late.

_ “What happened during those years that you fought in the Time War?” _


	7. Chapter 6

Steve POV

_ “No, no! Steve, stop!” _

“What happened during those years that you fought in the Time War?” I asked seconds too late.

As soon as those words escaped my mouth, I could see the prisoner’s face turn from one of pain and anguish to completely blank in a matter of seconds.

Silence fell over everyone like a thick fog for several minutes until a sudden movement from the glass cell broke the heavy silence. The prisoner was standing in front of the glass with his hands behind his back, and his feet spread shoulder-width apart, weight evenly distributed. Like any trained soldier would when standing at attention. His mouth opened, and a melodic stream of words flowed out of his mouth like a song that lost its vibrancy long ago. 

** _“Designation ‘War Doctor’ reporting on the battle of Keetol. Mission was a success. The Daleks did not get any of the weapons-grade rocks that the planet grew naturally. Time Lord designation ‘The Master’ was helpful in the recovery of any weapons stolen but unfortunately, Time Lord designation ‘The Master’ got away with the weapon designated the ‘Heavenly Paradigm’._ **

I stood there confused for a moment until I was struck by a realization that I had seen this same thing happen to soldiers in World War II. Shell Shock. Where the soldier who was exposed to warfare for a prolonged amount of time and they sometimes lost track of where they were. I had seen this before with one of my Commando’s, James. Lucky James was always triggered when a mortar shell struck, and he would never drop to the ground, and he would just keep running forwards while he would reach for something near his hip and would go through a series of motions reminiscent to what soldiers in the American Civil War would do when loading their rifles.

“Pardon me, but I don’t know what you’re saying. Do you know any English so we can talk to each other?” I asked as politely as I could, even with the panic I could feel building inside me.

The Doctor didn’t move and stayed silent throughout my questions. My panic levels rose as the Doctor remained ultimately still for several minutes.

“Sir, did you hear me?” I questioned frantically, my heart beating loudly in my chest.

It was silent for another couple of minutes as Steve waited with bated breath for a response.

_ “Steve, I don’t think that he can hear you right now,” _ Tony said with a tone of seriousness that you usually wouldn’t associate with the billionaire.

“I need to try again,” I mumbled to Tony, not wanting the Doctor to hear and suddenly to fly off the handle.

_ “I don’t think that that will work Steve, but go ahead and try it just in case,” _ Tony said quietly.

I nod at the camera imperceptibly and ask, “Doctor? Can you talk to me about whatever is going on?”

Still silence.

I looked at the camera and mouthed two words. ‘ _ Get Thor!’ _

After what seemed like hours, Thor came through the doors, walked up to the glass and studied the Doctor for a second.

As Thor opened his mouth, the door leading out of the room slammed shut, leaving Thor and I trapped inside.

“What is happening here?” Thor angrily asked, turning towards me with his hammer raised in a defensive position.

“I have no idea what is going on Thor, but I am about to find out,” I assured him.

Tapping on my earpiece I turned toward the camera and tried to get into contact with the rest of the team, but before I got any replies, I heard the sound of the cell door behind us start to open. Turning around slowly, I paled as I realized the Doctor was stepping out of his cell and stalking toward the door as if ready for his next assignment. 

Thor immediately went to stop him with his hammer, swinging it at the Doctor’s head. The Doctor fluidly moves his head and body away from the weapon and ducks behind Thor. He seamlessly got into Thor’s guard and strikes him in the back. Enraged, Thor turns around and takes another swing at the Doctor. Once again, he fluidly moved around Thor and did a roundhouse kick towards Thor’s head, connecting solidly. Thor stumbled away from the Doctor, grimacing in pain.

Deciding to get into the fight, I removed my shield from my back and attached it to my arm. I swung my fist towards the alien's face knowing that he would move away. Bringing up my shield, I saw the prisoner duck around my fist and move in line with my shield. Knowing that this was my only opportunity, I smashed my shield into the side of his head, watching as surprise flickered over his face for a second before his eyes became lighter and he fell to the floor.

He laid there dazed as Thor, and I watched him closely, gasping for breath. The prisoner looked up at us confused and then looked around. He paled a bit and looked back at us.

“What did I do?” He asked, looking like he knew the answer but didn’t want it to be true.

Thor and I shared a look before looking back at the alien. ‘ _ This is going to be interesting,’ _ I thought to myself.


End file.
